The Arabidopsis gene ATST4a is not a typical brassinosteroids catabolic gene

Brassinosteroid (BR) homeostasis is maintained in part by this hormone’s catabolism. The presence of multiple BR-catabolic pathways in Arabidopsis demonstrates the importance of this process in growth and development. Previous biochemical analyses suggest that ATST4a has BR catalytic activity. We have used both overexpression and loss-of-function genetic approaches to further explore the role of ATST4a in Arabidopsis. Up to 1000-fold overexpression of the ATST4a gene did not result in any characteristic BR-deficient phenotypes. In addition, the T-DNA insertion null mutant atst4a1–1 did not display enhanced seedling hypocotyl growth in the presence or absence of the active BR brassinolide when grown in white light. This lack of hallmark characteristics for BR-inacitivion genes suggests that ATST4a encodes an atypical BR catabolic enzyme.